Pink
by smarty0007
Summary: Collection of drabbles inspired by the song "Pink" by Aerosmith. Thanks for reading!
1. Pink, it's my new obsession

**Notes:** Tried a whole song of drabbles. Aimed for most of them to be the 100-word "formal" drabble, but a few felt like they needed to be rounded out a little more to make sense. If a thought ran long, to be silly and see if I could do it, I aimed for multiples of 50 words. Tense and perspectives change but I wanted this to have an Arnold-leaning feel to it. Helga can't have _all_ the soliloquies.

 **Disclaimer:** I own nothing. Lyrics of "Pink" (one of my all-time favorite songs) belong to Aerosmith. Thanks for reading! :]

 **P.S.:** If anybody wants to try something like this with "Behind Blue Eyes" by The Who, told mostly with a Helga-leaning feel, here's an official "I challenge you!" I was curious to try it as a sort of companion to this one, but I don't know if I'd make it tend towards angsty-dark or ironically light-hearted. Maybe both would be fun!

 _Pink, it's my new obsession_

In the park, around sidewalk corners, by the hallway lockers, even behind trash cans, you keep seeing that color. You think of funhouse mirrors. Gerald believes you've lost your mind, understandably. Anyone would think you were losing your mind when every day they hear you shout out, "Hey—oh, never mind…" to random people. But when you actually do see her, you hesitate and fall mute. Since when have you ever been shy? Haven't you known each other forever? Weren't you the kind of friends who could talk about almost anything? Well, maybe you still are. You miss it, pink.


	2. Pink, it's not even a question

_Pink, it's not even a question_

"Face it, everybody knows she likes you, man."

"Huh?"

"Kid's got a point, Shortman."

"Thing is kid, whatcha gonna _do_ about it?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, when're you gonna grow a pair and just ask her out?"

"But, what if—"

"Believe me Arn, you're too young for regrets. Follow your own advice."

"Yeah, by the time we graduate, it's gonna be too late!"

"Listen to your friend, Hot Lips!"

"Kimba? I need some help in the kitchen…"

"Yeah, Grandma?"

"Just thought you'd like a break. Want some tea?"

"Thanks."

"She's worth it Arnold."

"I know. She is."


	3. Pink on the lips of your lover

_Pink on the lips of your lover_

Faint lip gloss. One day it wasn't there, and then the next it was. Sure, he admired it, but what had triggered her to stand there in the mirror and decide _snap_ , just like that, to apply it? Was she trying to impress someone? Was she just being a _girl_? Did her sister make her do it? Did she think it would make her be more like all the other girls? No, that was laughable—she'd never care about something like that… But it wasn't like she'd ever let him ask her why. He secretly wondered what it tasted like.


	4. Cause pink is the love you discover

[Donnie Darko feels]

 _'Cause pink is the love you discover_

Years ago, he sat in this very chair and had a similar epiphany. He traced the glossy yearbook page. She'd signed her picture, just her name. In purple. Typical.

Something had finally clicked in his heart, a gentle weight sliding into place. He didn't immediately call her up, and the next day he didn't run to her in the hallway and make grand emotional proclamations, and at lunch he definitely didn't throw his tray to the ground and sweep her into his arms. He simply sat beside her at their usual table. "Hey."

She glanced swiftly at him from her careworn book but continued eating her sandwich. "Mm."

"What are you reading?"

"Thoreau."

"Hm. The nature lover?"

"Yep. You bio-nerds'd be regular peas in a pod. He was a poet too, you know."

"Interesting." She was absorbed in her book. He was absorbed in her. Maybe one day they'd visit his pond together. This far-fetched thought made him smile, and suddenly, the unknown future unfolded itself and stretched out ahead of him.

Before the bell rang, and before she could protest, he stacked her tome on top of his own pile and headed out the door to their next class.


	5. Pink as the bing on your cherry

_Pink as the bing on your cherry_

He sat in his usual post-game seat at Slausen's.

"Don't mind if I do." She'd swiped the cherry floating on the cloud of whipped cream dotting his shake.

"Dude, seriously?"

His eyes coolly followed her into the booth across from Phoebe and Sheena.

"Every time we're here, you order the same thing. And every time, she does that."

He shrugged and took a sip. "Yeah…"

"Doesn't that drive you nuts? You can't just—" Gerald didn't see her casual smirk over her shoulder or his buddy's sly response in kind. Eventually he let Arnold change the subject back to baseball.


	6. Pink, 'cause you are so very

_Pink, 'cause you are so very_

"You are so—so—" he was so angry he couldn't speak.

"Go on, say it. Say what you _really_ think. I dare you."

He clamped his mouth shut.

"That's what I thought—"

"Frustrating." He whispered it, risking the danger and not caring.

He looked up into her face and tried to find a crack in the exterior.

"Why won't you talk to me?"

"Because you wouldn't understand!"

"You don't trust me."

"I—I—never said…"

"You know, it hurts that you don't."

"I'm afraid, okay?"

"Oh."

"What if you hate the—real—me?"

"That's the you I love."


	7. Pink, it's the color of passion

_Pink, it's the color of passion_

He grunted when his back hit the door and another wave of intensity washed through him. Before he could wake the whole dorm, she covered his mouth with hers.

The insides of his eyelids. He'd never really paid attention to the colors that could erupt behind them. The fingers of one of his hands wove themselves of their own accord into her hair and then he was carrying her to his bed. Though she was taller, she was surprisingly light. He'd had a lot of practice holding her bridal-style, and he was glad he'd found a new occasion for it.


	8. Causetoday it just goes with the fashion

_'Cause today, it just goes with the fashion_

Out of breath, the young man ran up to her. "Are… are you _the_ 'It' Girl?" He smiled in a hopeful kind of way and she blinked dumbly back.

"Correction, _was_. That was long ago, toots." She grabbed her companion's hand and tried to steer him further down the sidewalk.

"Still, can—may I—please have your autograph? Your iconic brand speaks to my soul! You're why I went into design!"

Arnold shook his head at her, bemused, and she shot a death glare meant only for him as she bent down and mumbled, "Yeah, yeah, give it here, kid…"


	9. Pink, it was love at first sight

_Pink, it was love at first sight_

Arnold wasn't sure when he woke, only that he was staring into the dark at the glaring clock radio. 4:35… Someone was softly snoring somewhere, but it wasn't in the bed next to him. He sighed and gradually shuffled towards the room next door. A slow, silly, smile spread across his face as he rubbed the back of his neck in the narrow doorway. His wife's mouth was wide open, a trickle of drool on her chin, their _child_ fast asleep on her shoulder. She had held his hand so tightly that afternoon at the facility. Ready to meet her.


	10. Pink when I turn out the light

_Pink when I turn out the light_

"Told you the stars were better up here, outside the city."

"Quit gloating."

"Admit it, you think it's awesome."

"If you think being a hopeless romantic is awesome."

"Coming from the girl who wrote a book full of love poems about me…"

"W-what—"

"Helga, if you never wanted me to figure it out, you wouldn't have written all our lab reports in bright purple ink. Don't worry, I won't tell anybody. If you're _embarrassed_ or something…"

She slid a little closer to him. "Could've been anybody. You've got no proof."

He put his arm around her. "Whatever you say."


	11. Pink gets me high as a kite

_Pink gets me high as a kite_

They were scouring his room for odds and ends that they could attach to their growing disaster of a kite tail. Arnold dug through the drawers above his bed but found mostly heavy treasures like his beloved harmonica and a blinking yo-yo. Gerald, balancing on the rickety step ladder, reached carefully for a dusty shoebox pushed far back on the top shelf.

"Hey Arnold, what about this?" He was already pulling a satiny ribbon from the box before Arnold could stop him. "Is this… what it looks like?"

Arnold blushed. "Long story. Remember we went to the beach last summer?"


	12. And I think everything is going to be

_And I think everything is going to be all right_

 _Tap. Tap. Tap-tap-tap. Creak._

"Arnold… _psst, Arnold_!"

Arnold bolted upright and gasped at the looming silhouette above his bed.

"Helga?! What're—?!"

" _Pipe down_ , would ya? I'm only here because Pheebs is out of town."

" _What_?" he hissed as quietly as he could, heart racing. "You're lucky I didn't think you—"

"Arnold, I—can't… listen to it anymore."

"Oh." He peered up at her clinging eerily to his wall like a praying mantis. "Are they…"

"Yeah, again. They're just yelling about Miriam's—I mean, it's not as loud as last time, but I can still hear the… the crying."

"I'm sorry."

"Whatever. Just—can I hang out here for a while?"

"Um. Sure."

"Great, where's the remote?" She started climbing down.

"Too dark. Here." He tossed her a pillow.

"Th-thanks." She settled a wary eye on him from the foot of his bed. "Just don't get any funny _ideas_."

"Whatever you say, Helga."

"I'll be gone before you wake up." She'd already dropped her shoes over the side.

"You sure you don't want to talk more about it?"

"Go to sleep, Arnold." He felt her feet slide tentatively into the space between his legs and the wall.

"Goodnight, Helga."


	13. No matter what we do tonight

_No matter what we do tonight_

"It's date night."

"We have a date night?"

"Well, technically, no. But we should probably start one."

"Arnold. That's lame."

"But Gerald and Phoebe have one…"

"My point."

"Helga! You wouldn't say that to their faces!"

"Were you not paying attention at dinner last night? I literally said, 'You guys are so old and lame.'"

"Oh. Well, I guess I could just sell these tickets on the internet…"

"What tickets?"

"Date night tickets. To Wrestlemania. Hey!"

"Changed my mind. Date night it is."

"But it's _lame_."

"Yeah, and we're old and lame now just like all the other married slobs."


	14. You could be my flamingo

_You could be my flamingo_

He loved watching her stretch.

Those legs. The ones that used to squat behind the plate, covered in scrapes and dirt. The ones attached to feet that kicked sand on him at the beach. That carried her effortlessly when she was fighting in the ring. That he once saw gliding like magic across a stage. That brushed agonizingly against his ever so slightly at the movies last week.

He would be forever under their spell, he realized hopelessly.

Suddenly he discovered she was staring at him.

He was caught.

She grinned slowly.

It was going to be a long jog.


	15. Cause pink is the new kind of lingo

_'Cause pink is the new kind of lingo_

Their friends sent up appreciative applause for the duo, the stocky blond with the bongos and the raven-haired cat with the shades. They slid over to allow room for the double bass their tiny friend hoisted on stage. She nodded to the crowd and blew her bangs out of her eyes, fingers ready.

Another blond rose to the general roar and whistling, unhurriedly cracked a few knuckles and stretched long arms, deftly grabbed the mic, and proceeded to slam down verses that put their act to shame.

A powerful envy struck him—what it would be to collaborate with her…


	16. Pink like a deco umbrella

_Pink like a deco umbrella_

Stinky was nodding, commenting at the table, "…all purdied up like that time we were youngsters, shame she don't do it much. It's a glorious sight, don'tcha reckon?"

Arnold didn't expect Stinky's musings to end in so blunt a question of his opinion. He stammered, "Um, yeah, I…"

"Heck, you don't have to commit to it or nothin'. I mean, a feller can think a lady is a beauty without courtin' her. Why, seein' as how red you are…"

Arnold laughed weakly, setting his tray down as Stinky shook his head at him.

"That Arnold and his modest, gentlemanly way."


	17. It's kink--but you don't ever tell her

_It's kink—but you don't ever tell her_

The store clerk cleared her throat surreptitiously and beckoned to the bespectacled young woman.

"Me?" mouthed Phoebe. She pointed a tentative finger towards herself.

"Here," the attendant whispered, pressing a plain envelope into her hand. "Your friend dropped this off up front. He said to bring it to the maid of honor. That's you, right?"

"Oh, yes. Thank you." Phoebe hid her confusion with a slight smile. She cautiously opened the flap after waiting until the woman shuffled busily away.

 _Wow_ , two tickets to "The Marriage of Figaro" she'd been dying to see with Gerald. And a note:

"P., redeeming that favor you owe me…" Phoebe bit her lip as she recognized the practiced, even handwriting, so very different from her best friend's flourished script. "Small request…" Her eyes widened. "Don't care how you convince her, but please don't tell her it was me. You're the best, A."

"Pheebs!" struggled a muffled and defeated voice from the slatted door. "This is _killing_ me. Can we just give up and get a burger already? I'm starving!"

"Now, Helga," Phoebe hurriedly glanced the tell-tale bloom on her cheeks in the tri-fold on her way to the sales rack. She furiously fanned her face. "You only get to do this kind of thing once in your life!" She stood on her toes to reach for a gown sporting a sensuous silk ribbon woven from shoulder blade all the way down the back, ending in a neat bow. "Let's just try on one more…"


	18. Pink, it was love at first sight (2)

_Pink, it was love at first sight_

The first time Phil saw her, he was transported back in time. He stood on the sidewalk and watched his grandson make friends with the little blond girl, and he remembered what it was like to make friends with Jimmy. She favored Gertie more, but he hadn't made _friends_ with _her_ until much later.

The first time Gertie saw her, she'd been perched on a weathered rooftop hunting for hungry strays. The kids were playing ball in the street, and she watched this girl bravely step between Arnold and that giant toddler of a teenager. Kimba was a lucky boy.


	19. Pink when I turn out the light (2)

_Pink when I turn out the light_

She was telling Phoebe something apparently very personal because when Arnold walked up behind her and said boldly, "Hey, Helga, wanna go to prom with me?" she seemed to exhibit slight cardiac arrest.

He automatically flinched when she whirled around but continued, undeterred, "Hey, don't get any _ideas_ …." He raised his eyebrows. "It's just prom."

He walked down the hallway and grinned as she struggled to come up with a clever response. He stuck his head around the last locker, "I'll take that as a yes, then."

Phoebe gave him a beaming thumbs-up before bodily steering her friend towards class.


	20. Pink gets me high as a kite (2)

_Pink gets me high as a kite_

She spat into the dust and shouted obscenities towards the pitcher's mound. They'd been playing ball in this lot for years and still this childish taunting flourished. Some things never changed.

But some things did, he noticed abruptly one day. He was stooping over the plate like normal, and she was crouched, ready for the pitch. She rubbed a wrist across her forehead, and he caught the scent of her sweat on the warm early evening air.

He was struck blindly weak with how _good_ it suddenly made him feel and didn't even notice the first two pitches. Damn. " _OUT!_ "


	21. And I think everything is going to be(2)

_And I think everything is going to be all right_

"They just make _sense_."

He squinted. "Really. Wanna elaborate?"

"Well," Phoebe looked thoughtfully out the window. "He's a musician. She's a dancer. He likes photography. She likes to direct."

"Remember when they almost killed each other over that video contest?"

"That was… an excellent example of… intense collaboration."

"He _hates_ being bossed. If anybody knows, it's me."

She persisted, "He's an artist. She's a poet _and_ a playwright."

Gerald coughed. "You referring to that unholy disaster about the Food Pyramid or one of her more recent... projects back in college?"

"She loves him."

"He loves her too."

"See? Perfect couple."


	22. No matter what we do tonight (2)

_No matter what we do tonight_

She sat hunched at their desk scribbling furious edits to her draft. Her neck glowed softly in the short reach of the lamp. It wasn't ideal, having the desk in the bedroom, but for now it was the only place it worked. She always insisted pen was better than the typewriter or even a computer. "What's with the twenty questions? I just like it, okay?" she'd grumbled, annoyed. He'd kissed her cheek before climbing into bed, knowing this was probably going to be a long binge. She didn't know he lay there watching her, but he preferred it this way.


	23. I want to be you lover

_I want to be you lover_

His mind drifted helplessly towards hands sliding down humid windows as she hovered over the bench, perched determinedly on the edge of the stool. In slow motion, one tiny drop turned the entire flask pink, and he jumped when he realized she was staring at him. He'd been engrossed in the way her fingers barely grazed the stopcock. "…you lost count _again_ , Arnoldo!" He couldn't get the image out of his head as he walked home under the streetlights, the pavement exuding the scent of the end-of-summer sun. How was this happening? How was he going to survive the semester…


	24. I wanna wrap you in rubber

_I wanna wrap you in rubber_

 _Hel-ga the bed-wetter. Hel-ga the bed-wetter._

She hoped it never would, but one day it finally happened.

Small feet padded into their bedroom, and it was her husband who answered first. She lay still and listened. "It's okay, we'll fix it."

Eventually he was back. "I think you'd be the best person to talk to her."

 _Jig's up_ …

"Helga, if it makes you feel any better, Grandpa had to tell me bedtime stories until I was twelve."

She sighed, resigned. "Fine."

Her tired voice floated from the other room. "Let me tell you a story about a brave little girl…"


	25. As pink as the sheets that we lay on

_As pink as the sheets that we lay on_

Bob and Miriam were finally quiet, probably asleep. They'd made astounding progress since they started family therapy, but there'd still been some sniping and maybe a tear or two at the table. Well, that was normal with Olga. He snapped the sheet open and aired it, once, twice, before tucking the first corner under the edge of the twin mattress.

"You sure you don't want to stay at the boarding house? It's only a few blocks over."

"And waste our maiden Thanksgiving on a veritable smorgasbord with people who ooze nothing but sincere affection for us? Save it for Christmas…"


	26. Cause pink, it's my favorite crayon

_'Cause pink, it's my favorite crayon_

She'd long since stopped volunteering to act but continued haunting drama club. Mostly she reprised her notorious role as stage manager. But this year, for whatever reason, she demoted herself to scenery. He sighed when he entered the auditorium—there she was, staring at the wall.

"Need a hand?" Arnold asked.

"More like inspiration…" She peeled the paper slowly off of a crayon. "Who'm I kidding?"

"Take a break."

"Easy for you to say. _You're_ great at this stuff."

He grinned. "I've been waiting for you to say that since the great buffalo incident of—"

"Can it, Shortman." She stared emptily at the blank roll of paper. "Go on ahead, I'll only be a few minutes late."

"I'll wait. Maybe I can walk with you there. You know, if you need any advice."

He waited for the snark but instead received one of his favorites: "Whatever floats your boat."


	27. Pink, it was love at first sight (3)

_Pink, it was love at first sight_

Dawn versus sunset, he mused. Theirs were the sunsets. The ends. Wistful and then inevitably resigned conversations about unfair things they couldn't change. Theirs weren't the dawns. The beginnings. Pending declarations unspoken in the morning twilight. Nevertheless, here she was, tinged rose by the first ray of the sun. The world was upended. He wasn't sure what he was allowed to do, if he was free to press his face into her tangled web of golden hair. At least not yet. So he watched her lay there, wondered at the way her brow seemed so untroubled in sleep, and waited.


	28. Pink when I turn out the light (3)

_Pink when I turn out the light_

"Remind me again why we're doing this..."

"Yeah, man. I'm being eaten alive here."

"Come on guys, remember how fun this was when we were kids?"

"Newsflash, Arnoldo, we got lost and almost died."

"But we had a good time in the end."

"Arnold, although your optimism is certainly commendable, Helga and Gerald have valid points…"

"Yeah, I'd never thought I'd agree with Helga on anything, but—"

"Whatever, let's just humor him and get it over with. Where's that lantern? It's getting dark."

"Um… uh oh. Sorry guys…"

"Well, let's get to work then. This fire ain't building itself."


	29. Pink, it's like red but not quite

_Pink, it's like red but not quite_

Red heels. They were the only pumps she owned. Not black. Not nude. Fierce, unapologetic, fire engine red.

Her favorite color was still pink, he knew that. He had a feeling she didn't even really like wearing heels, as she was already taller than all the boys at a young age and they'd still never caught up to her.

But she wore them again tonight, and he had a flash back to another night when she'd worn a similar pair. He was humbled then, for he realized she'd done it for him all these years. His wife was so cool.


	30. And I think everything is going to be(3)

_And I think everything is going to be all right_

"Helga?"

"Mm?"

"I'm scared."

"Scared? You? Please."

"I… told you how my parents flew off in their plane… everyone thought they'd never come back again…"

"Yeah, but we found them, right?"

"We did. But sometimes I feel like… when I fly off myself… how are you going to find me?"

"Oh. I just will."

"But—"

"I won't be far behind you, doi."

"How're you so sure? What if I never see you or hear your voice again—"

"Because I've loved you since we were three, that's how. That kind of thing just doesn't _go away_. Happy now?"

"Yes."


	31. No matter what we do tonight (3)

**Notes:** Thank you all so much for your awesome and humbling feedback. I really enjoyed writing these. If anybody wanted to attempt "Behind Blue Eyes" by the Who as Helga-leaning drabbles, the challenge still stands! Maybe I'll try something like this again some day with another song or a different (more obscure) set of characters to make it interesting. Again, thank you, thank you, thank you for your support and encouragement. :)

 _No matter what we do tonight_

"Come dance with me."

"How do I know you won't throw me into a pool again?"

"I promise, as long as you don't pretend you're blind."

"You've got yourself a deal. Lead the way."

"You know, I've always had fun dancing with you."

"Sure."

"I mean it. I wish we could have… danced more often."

"I—yeah… me too."

"You'll come visit me, right? When we're in college? We can go dancing."

"Gee… I'll be pretty busy. But sure. I guess I could do you a favor."

"Don't get too excited, you're blushing."

"Don't flatter yourself."

"Keep saying that, Helga."


End file.
